Garden Ops Origins
by rockie3
Summary: A plant named Winston gets permission from the plant council to make a team to take the fight to the zombies. Follow the many adventures of the members of Garden Ops and their mission to fight against the zombies. There will be tales of adventure, mystery, romance, and more.
1. Garden Ops

"I'm telling you it could work!" the shout could be heard throughout all of the plant's base. A very angry peashooter was currently arguing with the plant council over the war against zombies.

"We understand how you feel this is the right choice but it's just too risky. We'd never be able to get enough volunteers for this project, and there's nothing wrong with the current way we fight the zombies" the head of the council, Stanley Chamberlain, calmly replied.

"But we can't win if we only sit here and defend forever!" The peashooter shot back.

Mary Thatcher, a cactus on the council, spoke next "Winston please calm down, our system has worked flawlessly for years now and we see no reason to change it. Your idea is reckless and has a 85% chance of failure by our calculations."

"When I was younger I was told I had a 1% chance of surviving. Now here I am, standing in front of you to ask for just a chance to change this war. Look I know it seems impossible but if we don't try something different soon they will, and who's to say we can stop them if they do. So please, just consider my plan." Winston finished his speech.

As he began to exit the chamber he was stopped by the voices of the council. "Winston wait...we will give you a month for you to gather a team of 8 plants, explore the given areas, and plant gardens for defense and expansion. If, and only if you come back with results backing your research up, we will officially back the program." Stanley stated.

"Thank you sir, you won't be disappointed." Winston beamed back. He then turned around and calmly walked out of the chamber. As soon the council was out of earshot, winston began jumping in the air with glee and sprinted off towards him room. He arrived to find his best friend waiting for him.

"So I take that it went well." She sarcastically remarked at seeing her friend nearly bouncing off the wall.

"You bet Grace, start packing your things because we leave early tomorrow morning." He swiftly replied to her, too excited to care for her sass. Grace had been his friend for years now, and he'd become accustomed to sarcastic and sassy attitude. She was a pretty good looking ice cactus, but she scared away most male plants with her personality.

"So any ideas for who else you want to take with us?" Grace questioned him.

"Nope but I've got a feeling that we'll know when we find them." He replied cheerily while popping open a bottle of champagne. He poured two glasses and handed one to Grace and took the other one. "Too Garden Ops"

"Too Garden Ops."


	2. Campaigning

**I'm sorry I didn't put one of these in the first chapter but this is my first fanfic. The chapters are going to start getting longer and I know it's currently just a bunch of dialogue but I promise it will eventually get to action scenes.**

Winston wanted nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep, but he had so many thoughts in his head that he couldn't help but consider. Who else would join? What kind of plants would be best for this mission? Would any plant actually want to join, and if they did how long would they stay before reconsidering?

"Stop worrying so much Winston." A voice called from the doorway. Without even looking he knew it was Grace.

Winston groggily sat up and replied "You Know I can't help it, think of all the things that could go wrong. This is our only shot at making this work, and what if no one joins."

"Winston you know that there are plants out there that share the same ideas as you and I. Just because they'll be hard to find doesn't mean we should just give up. Besides, you know I wouldn't have joined you if I thought this was going to be a giant failure." Grace said as she sat next to her childhood best friend to help comfort him.

Winston smiled up at her "Why are you always right about these things."

"Because i'm the greatest catus on this planet, and don't you ever forget that."

"How could I? You never let me forget it." The two of them just sat there for a bit before Winston finally jumped off the bed and walked down the hallway. "I'm going to make the pamphlets, you start working on the signs. Tomorrow we'll head for the military district and find some plants who wants to end this war."

"Aye aye captain." Grace said as she began looking for poster board and sharpies.

"Tomorrow will be different." Winston muttered to himself as he began making copies of the pamphlets. "Tomorrow we're gonna find some amazing plants."

"Winston stop talking to yourself. Plants are gonna think you're crazy." Grace called from the other room. She hadn't actually heard him but she knew him well enough.

"Well maybe that's a good thing, I always liked the plants who seemed crazy for years and then it turned out they were right all along." Winston shot back, more excited than he'd been in years.

"Make sure you pack an extra gas mask, in case yours breaks while we're away." A hint of worry was in her voice.

Winston looked in the mirror to see himself. He looked like any other peashooter aside from the glowing eyes, the gas mask, and the toxic radiation oozing off of him. It had been caused by an accident when he was younger, and to this day sunflowers are still amazed he survived. He doesn't actually know what would happen if he took off the mask, but he really didn't want to find out.

"How do you feel about a chomper on the team?" Grace brought him from his thoughts and he looked at her puzzled.

"I don't know Grace, I love chompers but you know a lot of plants find them to be savage. It'd be harder to get other plants if we had a chomper."

"Anyone who won't join because of a chomper I don't want on our team. It's awful how they're treated, they do so much to help protect this land and they are looked down upon just because of the way they take care of zombies." Grace took a second to pour herself some coffee before continuing "It's like plants calling cacti cowards, or peashooters weak, or"

"Or sunflowers rich, privileged plants?" Winston chimed in.

"NO." Grace looked sternly at Winston even though she knew he was messing with her. She hated sunflowers almost as much as she hated zombies, and a large portion of that came from them continuously telling her Winston was going to die. "They act like they know everything but you and I both know they're just a bunch of whiny, prissy plants who think they are the greatest thing on the planet"

"Relax Grace, I'm just messin with you." Winston and Grace sat there for a minute before Winston spoke again "You know who's cute, that sunflower from the clinic."

The next thing Winston knew he was covered in hot coffee, courtesy of a very smug ice cactus.

"Just finish your pamphlets Winston." She walked over to her signs and began to finish them up before looking over and saying "And don't forget the last time you asked a plant out."

Winston shuddered at the memory. How was he supposed to know she was allergic to Florida soil. He would never hear the end of that incident as long as Grace was around.

 _The next day_

The two of them had awoken bright and early to find a good spot at the military district. They were hoping they could convince plants who had not yet committed to defense to join them.

"Alright Grace, be on the lookout for privates."

Grace looked at him strangely before replying "Alright, so are we looking for male privates or female privates." She was trying her hardest to keep her laughter contained.

Winston didn't seem to understand the joke yet. "It doesn't really matter, either kind of private would be excellent."

" Would you personally like young privates or older privates"

Now Winston was starting to get confused "Younger ones of course, but older ones wouldn't be too bad. After all, they've got a lot of experience."

At that point Grace started laughing her cactus ass off, and Winston understood what she found so funny.

"Oh for God's sake Grace, what are you five?" Winston now felt like an idiot for not realizing what she was saying earlier.

"I'm sorry Winston but it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up." She had calmed down a bit as she now began to wipe away her frozen tears of joy.

They sat there for what felt like years before a curious pea came over to them. "What are you two doing?"

Grace was the first to reply "We're the recruiters for an elite squad of plants, who are currently looking for volunteers to help us explore the outside world."

The peashooter seemed shocked by the idea "Are you crazy! And leave the protection of this place, no thank you." And with that he turned around and sped off.

The rest of the day went in a similar fashion. Plants either told them they were crazy or that they would think about it, but no one actually signed the volunteer form. No one had even read the thing, and Winston had spent hours proofing it.

"Maybe tomorrow will be different." Grace said as they walked back to the house.

Winston was surprisingly chipper though "Of course tomorrow will be, I was stupid for even thinking of going to the military center. What we need to do is find the plants who have combat experience outside of the military, like you and I."

Grace looked at him skeptically "Winston you're not saying…"

"That's right Grace, we're going to the plant academy tomorrow." Winston finished for her.

The plant academy is a place for plants to get all of their experience for combat, healing, and academic studies. Plants are put into pairs before they graduate to help them always have someone to talk to and help them in their future endeavors. Grace and Winston both joined the academy together, and they both left as partners to the surprise of no one.

Winston continued on with his plan "The partner process happens tomorrow, followed immediately by graduation. All we need to do is find a pair of plants who'd be willing to join us and vwallah! We have our team of four."

Grace smiled at this new burst of energy she saw from Winston, and it was actually a pretty good plan. "You're right Winston, there has to be at least one pair that agrees with us, but we need to try and find a diverse pair. Like a fire plant or an electric one, and no sunflowers. "

Winston couldn't help but laugh at her last comment. "Ok you go and get some rest, I'll call professor Colo and see if he can get us seats to watch the partner process and graduation."

"Sounds good." Grace yawned as she walked off. "Night"

"Night".


	3. Partner Selection

_Meanwhile at The Plants Academy_

"I just don't know what i'm going to do Diana." A young sunflower whined to her roommate as she buried her head into a pillow. Her best friend rolled her eyes at her as she continued to prepare herself for tomorrow.

"Relax Nebula, you'll be fine. Plenty of people like you and you're extremely popular, whoever you get paired with I'm sure you'll get along with." Spoke her roommate and best friend, Diana, a peashooter. She was trying to calm her friend down the best that she could, but she was just one of those plants that worried too much.

She lifted her head back up "But I don't want some plant who likes me because I'm pretty or popular, I want a plant that appreciates intelligence and is level-headed."

"You sound like you're hoping to find your future husband instead of a good partner." Diana giggled to herself.

"Go ahead and make fun of me, but when I have a nice, smart plant who's always there for me that I fall in love with and we have kids and grow old together and…"

"Nebula, calm down. There are plenty of great guys out there. Plus there's nothing wrong with waiting for the right plant." That seemed to get Nebula to relax.

When they were first roommates, Diana and Nebula had hated each other and were constantly at war with one another. But once they warmed up to each other and began to get used to their personalities, they became best friends.

Nebula thought for a moment before speaking again "As long as William isn't my partner, I'll be fine."

Diana laughed at that "The process has never been wrong, just remember that. Goodnight Nebula." She looked over to see Nebula already passed out on her bed. She shook her head at that as she curled up and let sleep overtake her.

 _The next day_

Diana and Nebula were both walking down to the testing room where they would meet with a former student and be interviewed. The interview included a series of questions involving personality and academics. They had both taken mock versions of these just so they would know what it was like, but that didn't make either of them feel any better about it.

When they got to the testing area, it was set up like an election with dozens of voting booths lining the wall. Diana was assigned number 8, while Nebula had number 45.

They both wished each other good luck and Nebula began to walk over to number 45.

"Alright, you're fine, this is all fine , you've got this." She thought to herself as she entered the curtain. Inside was a small table with a chair on both sides. One of the chairs was occupied by an older looking chomper who gestured for her to have a seat.

"Hello there Nebula, my name is Solomon and I will be in charge of deciding who you will spend most of your time with for the next few years." He stated in a strong, burly voice.

"No pressure…" she sheepishly replied. She could already feel herself shaking and she knew this was going to end badly.

He grinned at this "What's the matter little sunflower, hmm. Afraid that the big, stupid chomper is going to sabotage you on purpose."

She looked up at him in shock "No sir! Absolutely not, it's just I'm a very nervous plant and I sometimes overthink things and ramble on and on and…"

"Say no more, you ignorant sunflower! You know what I think? I think that you'd be good with a plant like William. Afterall he also hates chompers and is constantly talking about himself. You both could be ignorant together, how does that sound." He snapped back at her.

Nebula's eyes lit up in rage "No!" She yelled, actually startling him in the process. "Just because you think I'm some self-centered sunflower brat does not mean I am one. I am intelligent and keep my mind open to anything, and that's what I want in a partner. I don't care if they're weird, or awkward, or unattractive. All I want is a partner who won't judge me just like I won't judge them." She finished, still filled with anger and rage.

Solomon sat there for a bit just staring at her, until he eventually began to smile and even laugh. "Kid, you got heart. You were willing to fight me till the end of time to get me to understand that you're not one to judge. You'd make a great partner for any plant, but I've got a certain one in mind for you."

Nebula looked at him a bit confused until she understood what he was saying. "So I'm not going to be paired with some idiot?" He shook his head no in reply. Nebula began jumping up and down in joy before she hugged Solomon and raced out of the booth.

He smiled to himself "Looks like I found the perfect partner for Static, though people aren't gonna like it." It was fine though, sure it had never happened in school history but there's a first time for everything.

Nebula rushed back to her room to find Diana already waiting there for her. She quickly began to question her friend "Diana, how'd it go? Who'd you get interviewed by? Were you scared? Nervous? Excited?" Diana quickly put a pod over her mouth and shushed her.

"It went great, some guy named James Pod, No, No, Of course." She quickly answered back. "So only a few hours now until we find out who our partners will be."

They both smiled at each other but they also knew what this meant. In a few hours they would no longer be roommates, they wouldn't see each other all the time, and they would eventually be replaced by someone else. They both knew they wouldn't be picked as partners, they both wanted such different things. Diana wanted to go into GMO research to try and create better and stronger plants. Nebula wanted to help the plants on the front line. Neither of them would see the other one for a long time after today.

Nebula looked at Diana and grinned "Hey Diana, how about this. As soon as we're dismissed, we find each other and introduce one another to our new partners."

Diana smiled back at her "Alright sounds good, and we'll make time to see each other at least once a month."

"Of course" They both shared a hug before getting all of their things ready to be moved out. Once they finished that they fell asleep for what would be the last time in their little dorm.

 _The next day_

As they both awoke and got ready for graduation, they found a box outside their room with two graduation robes and hats quickly put them on before rushing down to the grand hall for the graduation ceremony.

When they got there they were put into their seats and told to wait until they heard their name called. Once they heard that, they were to stand up and walk towards the center of the stage to meet their partner. The process took forever but it gave a chance for all of the parents to take pictures and cheer for their kids.

As they sat in silence for a bit, Nebula looked around and saw her mother and brother sitting in the third row. They were smiling at her and looked thrilled to see her graduate. Her mom had always been a lovely and open minded person and that trait spread to herself and her brother. Her father on the other hand was a close minded, stubborn plant who despised lots of other plants.

Diana interrupted her thoughts "Isn't your mom taking you and your new partner out to lunch after this?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes she is. She wanted to be one of the first plants to meet them." Nebula replied.

Diana was about to say something else when the headmaster walked onto the stage to greet everyone. He began talking about how wonderful the students were and how he just absolutely loved all of them. Diana and Nebula ignored most of it because they knew it wasn't true. He hardly knew any of them and spent most of his days locked inside his office.

"And without further adieu, we introduce our first set of partners." He slowly spoke to the crowd of already bored individuals.

As he began to run through the list of names, Nebula got more and more nervous. She would be right after Diana and just hoped the plant she was paired with was a nice and intelligent.

"Next we have a pair that we believe will complement each other beautifully. She is an intelligent peashooter with big dreams and he is a cactus that just needs a push to help him. They both want to research and study GMOs, and will do an excellent job in helping each other. Ladies and gentle plants, your next pair...Diana and Reginald."

The crowd began to cheer but as Nebula looked over at Diana she found her friend actually looked nervous. Reginald was the smartest plant in their class and as awkward as he was, he was never wrong. Diana would definitely feel the pressure in working with him.

As she watched her friend stand up and walk to the center of the stage, she now realized that she would be the next name called. She began to rock back and forth in her seat awaiting the results until the headmaster finally spoke again "Next up is a pair of individuals who are unlike any the school has seen in years. They show true character and above all else, an acceptance of all plants. They have the 2nd and 3rd highest academic scores of their class and I am confident that no matter what they choose to do, they will do an exceptional job at it. Ladies and gentle plants, your next pair...Nebula and Static!"

Nebula stood up and began to walk to the center of the stage, not sure who this static was. She began to realize that while a good portion of the crowd was cheering, some just sat there in what looked to be shock. She didn't understand why until she noticed her partner was now standing next to her. He was an electric plant who was decently tall and looked strong. But the biggest thing that she noticed was that he was a chomper, not that she had a problem with that but she knew why other plants did. And most importantly, there has never been a partnership between a sunflower and a chomper, until now.


	4. Getting Acquainted

_Earlier that day_

"So where are our seats?" Grace questioned Winston as they headed off towards the academy.

"Third row, seats number five and six." He replied as he began to quicken his pace, just barely holding in his excitement.

Grace rolled her eyes at him but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited. Just the thought of finding new graduates that would join their team filled her with glee. But it was also the thought of being back at the academy. It had been the best four years of her life and she was thrilled to get to see all of her favorite places, especially chomp burger.

"Hey Grace we're here." Winston snapped her out of her thoughts. She hadn't expected to get there so soon but sure enough the academy was sitting right in front of them. Winston spoke again "Come on Grace, the graduation ceremonies are happening over there." He pointed his pods over to a gigantic room.

Grace followed behind him, but she couldn't stop thinking about that chomper burger. It was one of those places that would give any health freak a heart attack, but she had never had food better than the food at the chomper burger.

Winston could apparently read her mind as his next comment was "Afterwards we can eat at the chomper burger."That was enough motivation to get her to nearly sprint to the ceremony.

They found their seats rather quickly and Winston struck up a conversation with the two sunflowers sitting next to them. Grace didn't engage in the conversation but she did catch snippets of it. Something about them being the mother and brother of a very intelligent sunflower, typical of sunflowers to brag about themselves and their family.

Winston leaned over to her and began softly speaking "You know, not all sunflowers are bad. By the sound of it, you'd get along with her daughter." Winston gestured to the sunflower sitting next to her.

"Maybe some other time, look the headmaster has begun speaking." Winston followed her gaze to see a very old cactus struggle to get through his opening speech. They both knew that he actually gave the same speech every time, but it was a pretty good one and parents loved it so they couldn't complain.

Grace and Winston had already agreed to be watching every pair announced, and they would tap the other one if they believed the current pair would make a good choice for teammates.

The first pair announced was a pair of sunflowers who Grace thought looked like they might have the combined IQ of a toaster. Winston had thought about poking Grace, but decided it'd be better if he didn't.

The next pair was a male fireflower and a female fire pea. They had enticing career paths but something about them made Grace feel they wouldn't be a good choice. Evidently Winston felt it too as he made no gesture to Grace about considering them.

The next two they saw was Grace's favorite pair so far, a cactus and a peashooter. They both looked intelligent and the two reminded her of Winston and herself. Winston looked over at her and pointed out that the two were seeking careers in GMO research and development. As disappointing as this was it was probably for the best, the cactus looked like he was about to faint by just being on the stage.

The next pair was the most intriguing of all. They were both said to be great in character and extremely intelligent. Another big plus is that neither one had a career path they were looking into, meaning it'd be easier to get them to join garden ops. What happened next shocked everyone in the hall, except the headmaster himself. As Grace heard the names called she looked to see a sunflower stand up. Grace was about too just forget about it until Winston started madly poking her and pointing to the other side of the stage. An electric chomper had stood up and began walking to the center stage to meet his partner.

When the two met at the center stage, Grace could immediately tell that the two were attempting to get a good read on one another. It wasn't until the chomper stuck out his leaf and the sunflower accepted the leaf shake that the crowd really started cheering.

The rest of the graduation seemed to fly by as all Grace or Winston could think about was the pair made up of a chomper and a sunflower, which was the first of its kind to come out of the academy.

When the graduation ended, all of the new graduates got together and began conversing while the family members left to the main gardens to wait for them.

Winston talked for a little longer with the two sunflowers sitting next to them before they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Grace gave him a puzzled look before he began to explain "So it turns out that the sunflower sitting next to us is the mother of Nebula, the one who's partner with that chomper. She also felt that our plan could be just what the plants need to win this war."

"That's good news" Grace replied as they headed over to chomper burger.

They ordered their meals and found a good place to sit before Winston continued on. "It gets better, she has invited us over to her house later on tonight to discuss garden ops with the two of them." Winston took a break to take a bite of his burger before he proceeded "This could be our best chance to convince these two to join, and with a chomper and a sunflower we'd have a solid team."

"Well first we have to actually convince them to join, and then we have to decide if they're a good fit for garden ops." Grace stated, not too thrilled at the thought of working with a sunflower.

"But any sunflower that can work well with a chomper shows that they don't judge plants based off of their outside, but on their insides." Winston countered, already knowing what she was thinking.

Grace would never admit it to him, but Winston was right. She'd see for herself if this Nebula was really a fair and just plant or if she was just another stuck up sunflower.

 _Back with Nebula and Static_

When everyone was dismissed, Nebula dragged Static to find Diana. They had yet to speak a word to each other and Nebula needed her friend to make this situation less awkward. She finally found her in deep conversation with her new partner Reginald. They quickly introduced themselves before Nebula dragged Diana away so she could speak with her.

"Diana help, I don't know what to do." Nebula looked like she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown and from past experiences Diana knew she would start rambling soon.

"Nebula you've gotta start small. Just start by having conversations with the guy and I'm sure you'll find something in common. That's what Reginald and I did and we're already getting along amazingly." Diana calmly replied.

Nebula had slightly calmed down but was still unsure "What could I talk with him about?"

"You could talk about the fact both of you were the most passionate during the plant's rights unit in history." A new voice chimned in.

Nebula turned around and looked up to see Static standing behind her with a grin on his face. "Yes but that unit was immediately followed by the study of plant defenses, which was one of the most boring ways I've ever spent my time." Nebula replied.

"Oh yeah, I slept through most of those lectures. It's all the same thing when you break it down." Static fondly remembered the hours of sleep he got from those days.

At this point Nebula hadn't even noticed that Diana had left as she was too busy talking with Static about the many units of science and history, subjects any other plants would find extremely boring.

"Oh yeah, my mother wanted to invite you out to lunch with us. She wanted to meet my new partner so we should get going." Nebula led Static through the crowd and out to the garden area.

"So where is she?" Static asked while watching Nebula search the crowd.

Nebula didn't actually know where her mother was, but she figured her brother would find them. Turns out she had been right, because the next thing she saw was her brother running towards her with a smile on his face. Her mom was right behind him, struggling to keep up with the young sunflower.

"Big sis! Why didn't you tell me your partner was a chomper? That's so cool!" Nebula's brother exclaimed. He didn't just respect chompers like Nebula did, he loved them. He thought their style of fighting zombies was better than anything else, and he strived to be as tough as them.

Static smiled down at the young plant "And who's this amazing kid? It sounds like he's just as intelligent as you Nebula."

"Well they are my children." Nebula's mother said while extending a leaf out to Static. "I'm Barbera, and this is my son Grayson."

Static shook her leaf "I'm Static, pleasure to meet you two."

"Would you mind coming over to our house later this evening, we have much to discuss and I assume your parents want to take you to lunch." Barbera politely asked.

Static smiled back at her "I'd be delighted mam, now if you'll excuse me I'm going with my mom to eat at the Chomper Burger." He left the family standing there in shock at his overall politeness.

"He might be the smartest plant I've ever met." Nebula thought to herself, until Static showed up a minute later realizing he had no idea where they lived.

"It's 5000 Petal Lane Drive, it'll be the house painted golden yellow." Nebula told him as she did her best not to laugh at his silly mistake.

Static could tell she was trying to contain it "Listen I swear I'm usually not this stupid." He murmured as he turned around and began walking away, only to run into a light pole.

Nebula couldn't control herself as she began to laugh hysterically at the embarrassed chomper. She could definitely get used to having him as a partner.


	5. Nebula's House

"So how long do you think he could blast electricity?" Grayson asked Nebula as he sat down next to Nebula on the family couch. The two were waiting for their parents to finish talking in the other, and they knew it would be a while before they were done.

Nebula looked up from her book and thought for a second "The average chomper can sustain their electricity for 3.2 seconds, but why don't you ask him when he gets here."

That got Grayson really excited since he had never actually seen an electric chomper's attack.

Grayson began reading his Attack of Chompzilla comic while Nebula sat there thinking about how her father would respond to learning her new partner was a chomper.

Her father was a great military commander and one would think he would appreciate the value of chompers, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. He use to tell her mother stories about seeing them eat zombies, and how it was the most disgusting and repulsive thing he'd ever seen.

Her mother had always felt he was just taking his anger of losing troops out on them, after all he lost less chompers than any other plant.

Nebula was taken from her thoughts when she heard a knock at the door. She looked over at the sundial and began to panic. "I must've been so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even realize how late it was." She whispered to herself.

She shared a look with her brother who immediately understood "I'll distract him, you go get yourself ready." She gave him a quick hug before rushing upstairs to take a shower, as she had not had time yet to do so.

Static was waiting patiently outside the house for someone to answer the door. It was a lovely house, two stories with a nice garden out in front. It reminded him of one of those human houses he used to read about, but an older model. One that was from the 1970's that was commonly found in the suburbs.

It had taken him longer to find the house than he would care to admit. The houses were all similar in design and all painted golden yellow, so it took him a bit to narrow it down. The house number wasn't on the side of the building like in his neighborhood, it was in tiny print on the mailbox. How any mail plant could read it so easily was beyond him.

The doorknob began to rattle before the door swung open to reveal Grayson standing there with a comic wrapped under his arm and a smile on his face.

Before Static could say a word Grayson asked "How long can you hold your electricity?"

Static thought for a second before answering "Five seconds."

Grayson's eyes grew wide and he dropped his comic onto the floor "No way, sis said that the average is like three seconds."

Static laughed at that before looking down at him "Wanna bet?"

Grayson immediately ran inside to get a timer while Static walked out to the street and prepared his electric breath. He had never actually counted how long he could hold it, but he assumed it was around 5 seconds.

"It's not like the kid will be upset if I'm wrong, he's probably just excited to see it." He thought to himself.

Grayson came running out of the house with a timer in his hand "Alright, you ready?" Static shook his head before Grayson started the countdown "Three! Two! One! GO!"

Static unleashed his power and held it at a steady rate. He began to feel himself get tired but he was determined to keep it up for as long as he could. He finally ran out of energy and allowed himself to relax as he looked over at Grayson for the results.

Grayson blankly stared at him for a moment before saying "You were wrong about it being five seconds long...TRY 8!" Grayson was so excited that he was practically jumping up and down.

Static hadn't expected to go that long, but he was impressed with his own skill nonetheless.

"What are you two doing?" A voice called from the garden. The two looked over to see Nebula staring at them with a curious expression on her face. She looked nicer than she had earlier today, less nervous and more well composed.

Grayson answered back in a small voice "Uh, testing Static's electric breath. Did you know he can hold it for 8 whole seconds!"

Nebula smiled at this " Go help mom finish dinner, you can talk to Static afterwards." Grayson nodded and took off into the house.

Nebula walked over to Static "Thank you for being so nice to him, he loves chompers and you doing that for him is a bigger deal than you might think."

Static smiled back at her "No problem, he's a great kid." Static looked around before commenting "You know, it's confusing when you all have the same paint job."

Nebula smirked at him "What's the matter smart guy, was finding our house to hard for you?"

They both walked inside and were greeted by the intoxicating smells coming from the kitchen. Nebula led him through the house into the dining room, where seven places were set at the table.

Nebula looked at her mom questionably before asking "Mom, why'd you set seven places at the table?"

"Because we're having two more guest over tonight who want to discuss a possible career path with the two of you." she answered. The two partners looked at each other in shock before hearing a knock at the door.

"And that's them now. Grayson can you get the door please." She called to her son.

He quickly responded "Sure thing mom." And he dashed off towards the door. When he reentered the dining room, two plants were following him.

Static and Nebula looked at them questionably before they introduced themselves "Hello there, I'm Winston and this Grace. It's a pleasure to meet the two of you." He extended his pods out and shook both of their leaves at the same time.

An older looking sunflower entered the room and looked around at all the other plants. "Alright, let's just get this over with." He sighed.

Dinner went on for a while with minimal chatter. Static and Nebula were very curious as to who these plants were and what offer did they want to make them, but they were told they would talk after dinner.

When they had all finished, Grayson and Barbara got the dishes and left the others to discuss things.

Winston spoke first "So have you two considered what career you want want to go into?"

The two looked at each other before Nebula responded "No, not really. I guess we haven't thought about what we want to do."

A smiled appeared on Grace's face "Well we might have the perfect solution for you. We want to take a team of four plants outside of Suburbia to the outskirts, and begin planting gardens to push back the zombies."

Nebula and Static considered this before Winston continued on "We would fight the zombies head on and find a way to win this war."

Static seemed very interested in this idea, but Nebula was unsure. They had always had success in defending Suburbia, why risk anything by going outside the limits.

Before Nebula could respond, her father cut in "I see no reason for such an idiotic plan."

Winston and Grace both turned their attention to him now and it was Winston who replied "With all do respect sir, this could finally end the war. We can't just sit back and defend forever and hope to defeat the zombies."

Static spoke next "They're right, if we could capture the areas surrounding Suburbia and slowly move the ranks of plants up to defend them, we could force the zombies out once and for all."

The old sunflower angrily turned his attention to Static "If I want advice from a monster, I'll let you know. Until then I forbid to let my daughter travel outside these lands."

Before Static could respond, Nebula angrily stormed out of the room and up the stairs.

Nebula went to her room and climbed out of her window onto the roof. She sat there for a bit just thinking to herself before someone sat next to her. She expected it to be her mom but she was surprised to see Static sitting next to her.

He sat quietly for a minute before he looked at her and sighed "I'm sorry if I offended you by making it look like I was trying to make the decision without you." He slowly finished.

Nebula immediately put her leaf up to his mouth to shush him "Static! Oh god no, that's not why I'm upset." Static looked at her quizzically but let her continue "I'm upset because my dad thinks he can still make decisions for me, and blatantly insulted you for voicing your opinion on the matter."

Static scooted closer to help comfort her "It's fine. Your dad isn't the first person to insult me and he won't be the last. You and I have the rare opportunity to end this war, and I think we should take it." He stood up and offered her his leaf "What do you say, partner?"

Nebula stared at him for a second before smiling and taking his leaf in hers "Alright, let's go make a difference."

"Sweet, I'm glad we can get off this roof now. I'm kind of afraid of heights." Static nervously chuckled.

Nebula laughed at him before climbing through the window "You are full of surprises Static."

The two walked downstairs together where they saw Winston and Grace sitting.

"Alright, we're in." Nebula firmly spoke.

"Good." Winston replied while watching the T.V. "Because our first mission starts now."

Static and Nebula both looked at the screen to see a breaking news report. The Garden Center had been overrun by zombies, and there was no plants who could stop them. That was, until now.

 **The next chapter is finally getting to the action and the first Garden Ops mission. I'll probably have it done in the next 2-3 days, depending on how well I can write action sequences.**


	6. Garden Center Part One

"So why are we heading towards the military sector?" Nebula asked as they were all running down the street. Nebula's house was about .3 miles away from the military sector, so it wouldn't take them long to get there. The problem was no one knew why they were going there, except Winston.

"It'd take too long to run to the garden center, so we're going to borrow crazy Dave's car, spaceship thing." Winston replied as they headed towards a small house away from all the military buildings. When they arrived at the house, Winston clicked open the garage door to reveal an RV. "Come on, Grace you're driving." Winston opened the door and threw the keys at Grace.

They all piled in and Grace started the RV. When she cranked it, the engine roared to life and wings began to unfold from it. The driveway transformed into a ramp and the vehicle blasted off.

"We'll be at the Garden Center in five minutes." Grace called back to the rest of the group. They were all busy mentally preparing themselves for what lied ahead. Grace put the RV on autopilot and walked towards the back. She saw Static blankly staring at the floor and Winston preparing the supplies for the garden. She looked over and saw Nebula nervously spinning her leaves around each other.

She understood why she was so nervous, but she still felt bad for the sunflower. Grace took a seat next to her "You nervous?"

Nebula looked up and gave Grace a small smile "That obvious huh?"

"You've got nothing to worry about. Listen I know it's going to seem intimidating, but once you vanquish that first zombie everything gets so much easier. You graduated at the top of your class so it's not like you have anything to worry about. Plus, you've got us!" Grace gestured to Static and Winston.

They both looked up from what they were doing and smiled at Nebula. Nebula laughed at them before standing up with a new look of determination on her face "Alright, let's do this."

Grace went back to the driver's seat and opened the hatch doors. The floor split apart and revealed the land below them. It was completely abandoned and there weren't any zombies in sight.

Winston gave a nod to them before jumping out. The rest of the team followed suit and began scoping out the area as soon as they landed.

After making sure it was clear, Winston turned and addressed the team "The zombies have already left, they think there's no reason for them to stay once they've forced us out. As soon as I get the garden planted, they're going to realize that plants are still here and come back. They'll come back in waves with each one being stronger than the last."

"How many waves where there be?" Nebula asked.

Winston thought for a second before responding "About ten, after that the garden will have taken affect and plants will have an easier time moving back and taking defensive positions."

Grace spoke next "The RV will pick us up after the tenth wave, we'll have to defend the pickup zone for a bit though. Make sure you're in the zone or else you're getting left." Static and Nebula looked nervously at each other before Grace jokingly punched Static in the arm "I'm kidding you two, but it makes it a lot harder if you two aren't there."

"Let's go plant the garden and get this over with." Static sighed, not looking forward to fighting ten waves worth of zombies.

Winston led them over to Garden park, which was located on the outskirts of the Garden Center. It was a friendly looking place, there was a lovely fountain and a gazebo for celebrations. But there was an eerie feeling in the air that put every team member on edge.

Winston picked the spot for the garden and started planting. The rest of the team stood guard until he was finished. When he was almost done, he looked at them and uttered "Remember your roles and don't get taken down." Then he finished the garden and the ground brightened up.

Thirty seconds went by and nothing had happened yet. Static finally broke the silence "Well that was lack luster." A zombie suddenly lunged at him from behind and Winston made quick work of it with one shot to the head.

Grace looked around and saw the horde beginning to form. She looked at Static and grinned "I think you spoke to soon."

They all went to work dispatching of the zombies. Winston took off and began taking out the groups of zombies, between his mixture of peas and radioactivity they didn't last long.

Static took a different approach and started chasing zombies down, blasting any groups he saw and eating the stragglers.

Nebula stuck with Static, cleaning up any zombies he didn't kill and making sure he was at full health the whole time. The only time she left his side was to make sure Grace and Winston were alright, then she'd immediately go back to helping Static.

Grace had found a safe and comfortable spot away from all the action and began picking the zombies off one at a time. She made it a priority to take out any zombies who were getting too close to her teammates, and she directed Winston to any groups that had appeared.

"That's the last of them." Grace sighed in relief as she watched Static pop out of the ground and swallow the last brown coat.

"The second wave will be filled with tougher zombies, don't let yourselves get overwhelmed." Winston called out to them.

Grace looked into the distance and saw the next wave approaching. She could already tell there were more zombies, and she could also make out cone heads and bucket heads mixed in with the brown coats.

The team worked with a slightly different dynamic for the second wave, with Static targeting the tougher zombies and Grace making sure no one got near him. Nebula was now running back and forth between Winston and Static, only healing Grace if she asked for it.

Wave two took longer to finish then wave one, but it was just as easy for them to complete. The next zombies began charging and when Grace zoomed in on them, she found that wave three was almost the exact same thing as wave two.

"Strange that they would send the same zombies for wave three, maybe this is all they have." Grace thought to herself as she started shooting at the zombies. Suddenly she noticed a foreign object heading towards her.

She quickly jumped out of the way as the entity blew up behind her. She looked around for the source and spotted a zombie on the rooftop. He was wearing a army hat, and had a gun in his left hand. He began opening fire on Grace, hitting her a few times before she found cover behind a tree. She noticed another one taking aim at Nebula and she shouted "Foot Soldiers! Watch out for the rockets!"

Nebula noticed in just enough time and ducked under the rocket. Winston began firing at the second solider while Grace concentrated on the first. Static and Nebula cleaned up the rest of the regular zombies and made sure there were no more foot soldiers.

Grace surprised her opponent by freezing him in place before delivering a spike to the head to take him out. Winston almost had the other one beat but the soldier jumped off the roof and landed behind a building. He didn't expect Static to be waiting for him though. The chomper suddenly burst from the ground and swallowed the foot soldier whole, not giving him the chance to escape.

It felt like no time had passed when wave four arrived. Grace was on the lookout for anymore special class zombies when she noticed fluffs of white hair approaching them. "Scientist." Grace mumbled to herself before locating Static and Nebula. "Static, focus on eating the scientist. They're gonna make things a hell of a lot worse if they're given the chance to heal the other zombies." Grace shouted.

Static gave her a nod and plunged into the Earth to seek and destroy the zombie healer. It didn't take him long to find the first one and capture it in his jaws, but the second one had alluded him. He finally found him sneaking up on Nebula when an ice shard came crashing into his head, freezing him in place. Static came up from behind and finished him off with his electric blast, not wasting his time eating him.

The attack seemed to have stopped and the group gathered around the garden. Grace made sure to keep a lookout while Winston addressed the team "They must be planning to launch a heavy assault. We'll stick together for this next wave, Do Not stray outside the park."

Nebula nodded and Static smiled at Winston "Got it boss, but it's not like we've got anything to worry about. None of these zombies are strong enough to-" Static didn't get to finish his sentence as he was knocked away by what looked to be a powerline. The rest of the group turned to find a huge zombie standing behind them, and he did not look happy.

"GARGANTUAR! SCATTER!" Winston directed the group and they all split off in different directions. Nebula looked around and saw Static lying unconscious by the fountain and rushed over to him. She quickly began working to get him up before she was noticed by the Gargantuar. She got him up and began firing on the beast while moving away from Static.

Winston noticed this and began formulating a plan. "If we can keep diverting his attention and confusing him, then we can keep doing damage until we knock him down." Winston thought to himself. He hurried over to Grace and told her his plan before setting off towards Static.

"Static, keep any other zombies away from the Gargantuar. We'll deal with him from afar, just don't let yourself get hit again." Winston firmly told Static.

He just nodded at him before setting off to find the rest of the zombie wave. Winston turned to see Grace and Nebula going back and forth at distracting the monster of a zombie. The bigger zombies tended to be the stupid ones, and they were playing that to their advantage. Nebula would wait for him to turn around, then she'd start firing at his back. As soon as he'd turn to face her, she'd hide behind the fountain and Grace would come out from behind the tree and start pelting him.

Winston smiled to himself at the teamwork before deciding he needed to help finish the zombie. He activated his hyper and took off running at the Gargantuar. He timed his jump perfectly and landed on his head, balancing himself and readying his toxic pods. He began rapidly firing into the zombie's head, and the Gargantuar became extremely confused as to where the peas were coming from.

Nebula and Grace both took this opportunity to pop out of their hiding places and begin unleashing hell upon the zombie. Between all three of their assaults and the damage he had already taken, it wasn't long before the Gargantuar stumbled and fell.

The three looked at each other and took a sigh of relief, happy that the biggest threat had been taken care of. They were about to go and help Static until they noticed that he was already walking towards him, the last of the zombies currently in his mouth.

They looked at each other before Nebula spoke "Still think that there isn't a big enough zombie to take you out." She was looking straight at Static who just stuck his tongue out in reply.

Winston looked over at the garden then back to Grace and grimaced "We're only half way done with this shit."

 **Well that took longer than I hoped, and I still have to do the other half. I'll make time for it though and I'm going to try and get the next chapter out by Wednesday, but we'll see. Also if anyone wants someone to do Garden Ops with in PVZ Garden Warfare 2, my gamer tag is Tropical T rekt.**


	7. Garden Center Part two

_Central Intelligence Agency_

Plants had all gathered around the main console to watch the events developing at the Garden Center. A cactus suddenly burst into the room and all of the plants turned to face her.

"Welcome Director." A sunflower greeted her. She walked passed him and sat down in a chair located in the center of the room.

"Dave give me a summary of what we're looking at." She commanded the flower.

He gave her a nod before continuing "The group of plants are currently on the 5th wave, and are handling the gargantuar surprisingly well."

Another plants spoke up "The gargantuar has just been taken out Director."

She raised an eyebrow at this "Impressive. Well looks like I'm now forced to help them, as a good citizen and all."

The other plants grinned at this knowing full well she would help just to annoy the council.

She looked towards the screen and asked "What do we have that can help them?"

A peashooter spoke next "We have the potted plants, but advanced stages are still in testing. We just aren't getting the funding we need to make advanced plants."

She crossed her arms at hearing this and sighed. No matter what they said or did, they were always refused funding in favor of the defense department. "In that case, send them what we have. I know it's not a lot but it should be enough to help them fight off the remaining waves."

"Should we send James to make sure they get there?" Dave asked.

She thought for a moment before responding "No, but have him ready to pick them up. For now we'll airdrop the potted plants in."

"Yes mam. Alright you heard her, get those plants loaded up and shipped out." Dave commanded the other plants in the room.

She smiled at him and then turned her attention back towards the monitor and thought to herself "These plants might have just changed the war."

 _The Garden Center_

"See anything yet?" Winston called towards Grace. It had been a few minutes since the fifth wave had arrived, and the team now anxiously waited for the zombies to mobilize themselves and strike again.

Grace hadn't seen anything yet, but she was getting tired of Winston's constant questions. "You know what Winston, now that YOU asked me if I notice anything I think I do. Thank goodness for your amazing leadership." She snarled at him before returning to her lookout position.

Winston took this as a sign to leave her alone and just wait for her to call them. He walked over to Static and Nebula and found them squinting at something in the distance. He followed their gaze and saw a ship fast approaching. As it neared, a hatch opened and ten small, brown pots fell towards the ground and landed with a _thump_.

The three of them gathered around the pot and peered inside to find a miniature peashooter pop out of the soil. He looked around to make sure the area was clear before turning his attention to the plants. He gave them a quick salute before returning his attention to the surrounding area.

They looked around and saw that the other nine pots held the same thing, a miniaturized peashooter ready for battle.

"Well, that makes things a little easier." Nebula remarked as Grace walked up behind them.

She acknowledged the tiny plants before speaking "Good, because the next wave is fast approaching."

Winston nodded and looked towards Static and Nebula "Alright let's get ready. Static take on any and every special zombie, leave the regulars to us. Nebula make sure every plant, including these little guys, is at full health. Only attack zombies on your way towards helping other plants, don't actively seek them out."

Static plunged into the ground and Nebula headed off in search of a good place to watch her teammates. Grace had already found a great spot to scope the zombies out, and she began picking them off from atop of the fountain.

Winston watched as the potted plants began firing at the zombies, surprising them and slowly dwindling their numbers. Winston dashed off and took care of all the leftover zombies, surprised at how fast the wave had been diminished.

Once the last zombie was taken care of, Winston looked around for Static. "Static, anymore specials show up?" Winston knew that engineers and all-stars were still a problem, but he wasn't sure if any would be sent to deal with them.

"No new ones, but there are still plenty of foot soldiers and scientist to eat" Static answered back. Winston heard Nebula laugh at Static's remark and smiled to himself. It was a huge relief know that the two got along so well, and they were just more evidence that all plants could get along.

Wave seven went by just as fast, with little to no resistance being felt by the zombies. Any zombie that came within twenty feet of the garden had their head blasted off by either Grace or Winston. Nebula made sure that every plant's health never dipped below half, and Static ate any zombie who tried to stop her.

Things didn't start getting interesting until wave eight. Static was busy chasing down a foot soldier when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something coming out of the ground. He stopped to investigate and found that it was a tombstone rising up from the Earth. He was about to report it to Winston when a hand popped out and grabbed at Static.

Static ran back towards the garden to warn the team of his new discovery. "We've got a problem, zombie generators are appearing now, and I don't know how to get rid of it." He yelled. The team turned to see Static being followed by a group of zombies that had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

"Grace! Nebula! Take care of the rest of them. Static, you're with me. We're going to take care of this contraption." Winston commanded. Static followed behind Winston as they rounded the corner to figure out how to take care of the tombstone. Before the two of them could figure out a solution, the grave rumbled and sunk back down into the ground.

Static and Winston shared a look and started to return towards the garden, but not before Static remarked "Well that plan went under." Winston turned to see Static grinning, and he just shook his head at the silliness that was his new teammate.

The two were alarmed to see that the next wave had already arrived, and they wasted no time jumping in to help Nebula and Grace fight back the horde. They threw the strategies out the window and just started blasting any and every zombie they saw. At one point Grace was forced off of the fountain by a ZPG blast, but that didn't stop her from ending the zombie's life. Again.

Nebula started firing at a coffin zombie, only to find that it had a large amount of health. Static snuck up behind it and ate it's outer shell, exposing its weak body to Nebula's solar pellets.

Winston surveyed the field and determined the ninth wave had been destroyed. While this was a small relief to him, he knew that the hardest wave was about to be upon them. He gathered the team up and had them wait around the garden, preparing them for the final group of zombies.

The ground began to shake and a gargantuar rounded the corner, already prepared to take out the plant's garden. Then another one came up behind him, looking just as mad as his brethren. With a mighty roar, the two simultaneously charged at them, causing the group to split apart from each other.

Winston immediately began formulating a plan in his head. When he finally figured out his strategy, he began yelling his instructions to his team "I'll distract the gargantuar on the left. Nebula and Grace, keep the other one guessing as to where your shots are coming from. Lead him near the mini plants so they can do damage, but not too close that he destroys them. Static, help he distract this one."

Static ran past Winston and straight towards the buildings with the gargantuar right on his tail. He turned the corner to find that the tombstone had reappeared, and the zombies were already rising around it. Static thought for a second before deciding to stand his ground. As the gargantuar rounded the corner at full speed, Static jumped out of the way and caused the giant to crash straight into the tombstone, crushing it and all of the zombies in the area.

Winton came up behind him and jumped onto the gargantuar's back, making sure he was dead. Winston smiled and looked at Static "So you are smart."

"Of course I am, you think just any plant could formulate that totally planned not at all bull shit idea?" Static sarcastically responded.

The other gargantuar was in a similar situation. He couldn't tell where any of the damage was coming from, so he just started randomly smashing parts of the ground. It didn't take long for Nebula and Grace to finish him off, sending him crashing back into the ground where he would stay.

The team gathered back around the garden just in time to see it brighten up before turning the entire park into a luscious and beautiful place. The peashooter pots grew stronger, and the whole team felt the positive effects of the garden.

Grace turned towards the sky and saw a ship approaching. She frowned before saying "That's not the RV. It should've arrived by now."

"Don't worry, that's the same ship that dropped off the pots. They must be friendly." Nebula reassured her.

As the ship drew closer, two groups of plants jumped out and made sure the area was clear before another plant jumped down. He was a peashooter with slicked back hair and a bow tie. He didn't have a normal mouth, instead it appeared that he had a special kind of firing mechanism in his mouth.

He strolled over to Winston's team and greeted them "Hello. My name is James, and we have much to discuss."


	8. Secret Plant Agency

Winston spent much of the ride back to Suburbia asking James all sorts of questions. James had no problem in answering all of them with the response "That's classified."

While the two chatted, Grace had found a comfortable spot to lie down and rest for a bit, while Nebula sat by her staring out the window. She couldn't help but admire the beautiful landscape that surrounded Suburbia, the miles and miles of luscious green fields and the forest whose trees were taller than buildings.

She turned her attention from the view to see Static scratching at his left cheek. She got up and walked over to him and found that he had a nasty looking gash right by his jaw.

She looked at Static in horror before beginning to heal the mark. "Static, stay still so I can fix this." Static didn't say a word , he just complied with Nebula's orders. Once she had finished, she looked at him again "Why didn't you say anything! If that had become infected, who knows how much more serious the damage could have been."

Static hadn't meant to upset her, he just didn't think it was a big deal. He looked at her and saw the worry in her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry Nebula. I've just been distracted by my thoughts. This whole situation seems strange."

Nebula shook her head in understanding before responding "I know what you mean, that force was way too well organized. Not to mention the weapons that those soldiers and scientist were using."

"And those gargantuars didn't come at random, they were sent at the same time. Zomboss is a genius but he's currently commanding his troops in the East, the Garden Center is too far away for him to be able to control any zombies." He reminded her.

Nebula considered this before giving Static a grim look "Then it looks like Zomboss has created smarter zombies, and new technology for them to fight with." They both shuddered at the idea of intelligent zombies with the capability of organizing themselves and attacking with new devices and weapons.

"We can discuss all of this later. For now, let's go thank the plant responsible for sending us help." Grace interjected. Static and Nebula followed her off the ship where they saw Winston and James walking ahead.

Winston turned around and spoke to Static and Nebula "You two, wait here for one of their scientist. They'll take you to the lab and show you some new plants they've been working on. See if there's anything useful then meet Grace and I back here."

The two frowned before nodding and taking a seat next to the ship. Winston and Grace followed behind James as he led them down a series of halls and doorways. Grace wasn't entirely sure how they'd find their way back to the rest of the team, but she was pretty sure they'd eventually navigate their way back through the halls.

As they arrived at a giant metal door, James walked over to a control panel and entered a series of numbers before scanning his eye. "Welcome Agent Pod" a computer voice greeted and the door opened up.

Inside were plants of different varieties, all working different jobs. Some sat at computers typing lines and lines of mission information, while others ran back and forth delivering papers to plants who would file them. Winston noticed a cactus sitting in a chair in the center of the room, watching a video feed of the Garden Center on the main monitor.

She turned around to face the two newcomers, smiling and throwing her limbs up at the sight of them. "Well, if it isn't my new favorite plants. No offense Dave." She called to a sunflower working next to her.

"None taken." He answered without looking up from his work.

She looked back at them before continuing "Let's get down to business, shall we. I'm the director of a very powerful organization that can be of great importance to you and your team. I can give you supplies, intel, and most importantly permission to continue your operations as Garden Ops. I will do all of this on one condition, you agree to work for me."

Grace looked at her quizzically before asking "And what does that mean?"

"It's simple, I give you a mission and you complete it. If any problems were to occur I would take the blame, the council can't really touch us."

Winston looked confused "How come."

She laughed at him before responding "Well they don't know where any of our operations or employees are, just that we exist. The only problem with this is they don't give us a lot of funding."

"Well if that's the case, we'd be happy to work for you." Winston said. He loved the idea of being able to work outside of the limitations of the council and their idiotic rules.

The director reached over, grabbed an envelope, and handed it to Winston. "Great, there's your first paycheck. It's based of how many zombies you vanquished and how successful your mission went." She explained.

Grace took the envelope from Winston and ripped it open to find 12,000 worth of coins inside. She smiled and put the money behind her back. The two thanked her before turning around and walking towards the door.

"We'll let you know if there's a mission available, until then just relax." The Director informed them before turning back around and resuming her work.

 _Minutes Earlier_

Static and Nebula only had to wait about a minute before they were approached by a peashooter. She was a navy blue color, and when she saw them she started running until she collided into Nebula.

"Nebula! What are you doing here?" Nebula looked at the peashooter for a second before hugging her back.

"Diana, it's so good to see you." Nebula exclaimed. Once they separated she got a better look at her friend. She now had a certain glow to her, and it looked like her leaves had energy flowing through them. "You look amazing, what happened to you."

"Well I work here, which means I sometimes end up being part of the experiment. I can go into specifics later but first tell me what you're doing here." Diana replied.

"Well we aren't too sure ourselves." Static answered. "We were just told to wait for you so you could take us to your lab."

"I was told we had some new recruits I needed to show around, I guess that's you two. Follow me." Diana led them down a short hallway. When they arrived in the lab, they were both surprised to see how small it was. There was little room to move around, and there was one computer available to work on. There was a tiny dumbwaiter in the wall and papers were everywhere.

"Hey Reginald! We've got company so put a smile on for once in your life." Diana called to a cactus sitting a tiny desk. He turned around, gave them a quick nod of acknowledgement, and went back to his work. Diana sighed at his action before turning and explaining to the two "He takes some getting use to, but he's a genius and makes amazing GMO discoveries."

Nebula thanked Sullivan for pairing her with a partner she could communicate with before asking "So what's it that you wanted to show us?"

Diana walked over to the dumbwaiter and pulled three small nuts from it. She made room on her desk and threw them down onto it. Before any plant could blink the nuts had grow to half the size of a cactus, and now formed a protective wall on the desk.

Diana turned to face the two and began explaining the plants "These are instagrow walnuts, made for distracting zombies and holding down positions. They can take quite a few hits before they'll break."

Static looked to Nebula thoughtfully "Those would be useful for Grace. It could help her hold a position and protect the garden."

"I have something else she might find useful." Diana said as she walked back over to the dumbwaiter. She pulled out a potato which she then proceeded to throw into the ground. The potato went into the floor, then a potato mine sprung up.

Nebula inspected it closer and Static began filling empty containers with the nuts and potatoes. Diana laughed at his reaction and went back to get another item out.

Static Looked over in surprise and asked "There's more!"

"One more thing, this one's for Winston. Be warned though it is highly experimental and could possibly blow his stomach up." Diana warned them. She tossed a bag of beans over to Static and gave him the instructions "He can only eat one at a time, any more will blow him up. They take about 45 seconds to become fully grown and ready to be fired. I'm still worried that they won't work so please be careful."

Reginald spoke for the first time "She's not giving herself enough credit. I expect them to work flawlessly, even if I am jealous I didn't think of the idea first."

Diana looked at him thankfully before turning back to Nebula "Next week you and I are doing lunch."The two shared one last hug before Nebula and Static left the room.

Nebula turned to Static and asked "Who was your roommate."

"William." He grimaced. Nebula frowned when she heard this. She had unfortunately talked to William many times. He was a close minded, ignorant fire flower who thought he was entitled to everything. His parents were extremely powerful and hated chompers, which was a trait that they passed down to their son.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm your partner, and not him. Besides, he doesn't deserve roommate like you." Nebula comforted him. Static gave her a small smile but still seemed upset.

The two made their way back to the ship where they found Grace and Winston waiting for them. Winston was already prepared to give them their next set of orders "Alright we have a few days before our next mission so you two have some free time." Winston pulled half of the money out of the envelope "This is for you two. Your first paycheck, you two have earned it."

Static and Nebula took it before giving Grace the container filled with the experimental plants. "You two know our address right? Just visit us whenever you need anything." Grace told them.

Winston and Grace left and Nebula turned to Static "Hey my family wanted to know if you wanted to stay with us tonight, spend family night with us and all."

Static smiled at her "I'd love too, but first I've got to stop by my house."


	9. Game Night

Nebula followed Static through the lower slums of Suburbia. She had seen pictures and read articles about the area, but none of it was even close to the real thing. Everywhere she looked the buildings were run down and the paint had completely faded. They passed by plenty of alleys full of groups of shady looking plants and one peashooter that tried to sell them plant fertilizer.

Static finally stopped outside of a small, green structure. It had one window and a hole in the wall where Nebula assumed the mail went. Static looked under a rock and pulled out a key.

Static gave Nebula a quizzical look before asking "How much longer are you gonna hold onto me?"

Nebula looked and saw that she had wrapped her vine around Static's without realizing it. She quickly pulled away from him "Sorry, I guess I got a little scared on our way here."

Static just shook his head at her and walked over to a door that had the Plant Academy logo painted on the door. Static looked at Nebula and motioned to the door "My aunt painted that on the door when I got my acceptance letter. I'm kinda like the son she never had."

"So who do you live with" Nebula asked as she looked around the tiny house. The walls were covered with pictures of a younger Static doing various academic events. There were pictures of him at his school reading bowl, spelling bee, science fair, and various other events. The most impressive achievements were in a display case located right by the door. It was taller than Nebula herself and each row contained trophy after trophy from debate events and history challenges.

"I live with my grandma, my aunt, and my uncle." Static responded after coming back from one of the rooms. He was now wearing a red bandana with various plant heads drawn over it. "They've raised me for as long as I can remember. As you can see they love to brag about my achievements." Static gestured at the case.

It was refreshing for Nebula to see a family who cared about academics as much as hers. She had known too many plants whose parents wanted them to be the fastest or the strongest. Plant Academy was the one place that truly stressed how important it was to know subjects like history and science. From what Nebula had heard, the military academies were more focused on how to sit in one spot and shoot forward.

Static again interrupted her from her thoughts "You think a lot don't you?"

"Well aren't you observant" Nebula quipped back. "Ready to go?"

 _Back at Winston and Grace's apartment_

"Making myself a sandwich, cause I am number one. Making myself a sandwich, cause I like to have fun. Those zombies didn't stand a chance they didn't last long. Nobody can get me down while I sing my sandwich song."

Winston was happily making himself a sandwich to celebrate th success of the mission. They now had the support of a secret government agency, planting the garden to combat the zombies advance had proven effective, and most importantly his team had shown fantastic composure and communication. Winston had seen it as a complete success with no failures, but he knew that Grace wasn't thinking the same thing.

She had been quiet the whole trip back and she had hardly even looked at Winston while he was singing his sandwich making song. "She always provides a beat to the sandwich song" Winston thought. He walked over to the couch where Grace was sitting and looked at her face. Her expression was emotionless and she appeared to be staring off into space. Winston walked back over to the fridge, took out a popsicle, and brought it back over to Grace.

She took it from him and ate it in one bite. "Thanks" she mumbled to him as she sat up and stretched. Winston knew that the first step to getting Grace to talk about her problems was to give her an icy treat.

"So, what's the matter?" Winston began to question.

"Where do we start? First off how were there so many special class zombies? You and I both know the average in an army is 4-6, so why did we fight over 20?" At this point Grace had stood up and was pacing around the room. "And another thing, how did those gargantuars move so fast?!" Grace had begun yelling now and Winston was just staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Grace looked back at Winston and she began to calm herself.

"So what's really on your mind?" Winston asked her, knowing that she never worried about zombie operations.

"Truthfully I'm worried about Nebula and Static." Grace confessed. "They have so much potential and work so well not just with each other, but on their own. What if they start to regret this decision?"

Winston gave a small laugh before responding "If they decide to quit this team, then they are clearly not the plants we thought they were. Neither of them showed any signs of giving up, and I firmly believe that they are here to stay." Winston turned around and began walking towards his room. "But if you're still unsure, then you can call up Nebula and ask if she wants to hang out tomorrow. Find out first hand if she has any doubts about her decision."

Grace pondered his idea for a second before calling to him "Ok but I'm taking some of the money we earned."

"That's fine, goodnight." She faintly heard Winston call as he shut his door behind him. It was only 7 but he had a horrible habit of locking himself in his room for hours doing research.

"Night" Grace mumbled to herself as she sat back down and thought about tomorrow. She had never considered spending time with either Static or Nebula outside of missions, especially without Winston. "This will be good" Grace thought to herself. "I can get to know Nebula more, learn if she is serious about this whole deal, and possibly get over my hatred of sunflowers." The last one was unlikely but she was pretty confident that she would learn to love Nebula. After all, the two had worked well together in fighting the gargantuar.

Grace picked up her phone and began to dial up Nebula.

 _Nebula's Neighborhood_

The walk through Nebula's own neighborhood was a lot easier for her than the walk through Static's. It's not that she hated his house, she actually found it quite cozy, but the surrounding area was a nightmare for Nebula.

"So what does your family do?" Nebula asked. She wanted to get a better understanding of what Static's life was like, and what kind of life his family had.

"My uncle works in construction, he does government projects like schools and libraries. My grandmother is a retired veteran, but she now works as a school teacher." Static paused for a moment before continuing. "And my aunt works as an attorney."

"Wow your whole family is made up of government workers. Do you have any family members who work non governmental jobs?" Nebula asked.

Static laughed at her question. "Yeah every other member of my family."

"Ah, so why did you say yes to Winston and Grace?" Nebula had been curious about his decision all day, and now seemed like an appropriate time to ask. "I know you said we have an opportunity to end this war but you seem like the type of plant that would have a more thought out reason than that."

Static looked towards the ground, slightly embarrassed at her question. "Well truthfully, it sounded like a fun job. You get to explore the world, kick some zombie ass, and there aren't any regulations on how we have to fight."

Nebula grinned at him " everything through agreed to be part of some new and dangerous group because it sounded like fun? Guess I am smarter."

Static just shook his head at her, deciding to let her have her small victory. "So why did you accept?"

Nebula answered him without any hesitation "All my life I've been told where I could go and what I could do. This seemed like the perfect chance to do what I wanted to do. No rules, no following commands...only freedom."

Static was quiet for a second before responding "Well now I do sound like a fool."

The two of them shared a laugh as they finally arrived at Nebula's house. When they entered they saw Grayson and Barbara sitting on the couch, waiting for the two to return. When Grayson noticed them, he stood up and walked upstairs without a word.

"It's my brother's turn to pick out the game." Nebula told Static, seeing the confusion on his face.

Barbara led them into the dining room where Nebula's father was already seated. Grayson came back holding trivial pursuit, and Nebula mentally groaned to herself.

"Ok just a fair warning, my dad can get pretty competitive during this game." Nebula whispered to Static.

"Um, what is this game exactly?" Static asked.

The whole family looked at Static shocked. They had all assumed that everyone had at least heard of this game.

"It's simple, you just answer trivia questions. They are about one of six subjects, answer 1 question from each subject right and you win." Barbara explained to him.

"We always do teams, so how about Static and Nebula against the rest of us?" Grayson offered.

"No. You, your mother, and Nebula vs Static and I." Nebula's dad answered. Static shrugged and seated himself next to him. As soon as Static sat down he was whispered instructions "Alright here's the deal, I have never beaten my daughter at this game. Ever. If you're as smart as the Academy says you are, then you're my only chance at beating her."

"Alright, I'll try Mr...I still don't know what to call you." Static blatantly answered.

"Just call me Ted." He quietly answered.

"Alright, you two can start." Barbara drew a card and read it to them. "Who was the general that defended 5th street for two weeks straight?"

Ted waited patiently for them to read the choices when Static spoke up "Ulysses Plant."

Grayson and Barbara sat there with their mouths wide open while Nebula giggled to herself. "Static, it's multiple choice.

"Who cares, he was right." Ted exclaimed. "Please tell me you can do that for every subject."

Static gave him an apologetic look "Sorry, I'm only gonna be able to do that on history questions. It's kinda my strong suit."

The game went back and forth for 30 minutes, with both teams dead even the whole way. Any time one team answered correctly, the other team would respond a right answer. Whenever one team would miss a question, so would the other team.

"Alright, final question. If you two get this right, then you win. But if you answer incorrectly, then we have a chance to steal. Where did the bloodiest battle of the first Zombie-Plant war occur?" Barbara asked.

Static and Ted looked at each other before turning back to respond "We're gonna need the choices for this one."

Nebula smirked at him. She knew that Static would only be asking for the choices if he didn't know the answer, her team had won.

Barbara gave them their choices "Was it the Somme river? Amiens? Or Savy-Dallon?"

Static gave her a confused look before answering "Um, Amiens and Savy-Dallon were two different locations where the 100 day offensive was fought. But technically the answer would be Amiens because more troops were stationed there since it was the front line."

Ted looked at Static, then to Barbara, then back to Static. "Is he right or not?"

Grayson took the card from his mother "He's right." He quietly responded.

Ted sat there for a minute before realizing he had finally beaten Nebula, then he jumped onto Static's back. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Static carried him around the table in a celebration dance while Grayson and Nebula started laughing at their father. Barbara left the room to go answer the phone.

"That was amazing Static, where did you learn so much about history?" Grayson asked. Nebula had left the room to go see who her mother was on the phone with.

"I read quite a few books on the subject when I was younger. I wanted to grow up and become a general" Static answered truthfully.

Ted gave him a disappointed look "What made you give up on that dream?"

"I was told I would never make it, and I unfortunately started believing it...But that's all in the past. What's important now is that I focus on my current job." Static replied with a look of grief and determination on his face.

Ted smiled at him as he get up "Well whoever told you that clearly didn't know what they were talking about." As he left the room, he turned around and gave Static one more piece of advice "Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do, especially people you don't even know. Once you start doing what everyone tells you, you accomplish nothing."

Barbara spoke up "Unless they are your significant other, then they will always tell you what you need to hear."


	10. Unwanted Discoveries

Grace stood outside of the Hardware store patiently waiting for Nebula to arrive. Grace had been standing there for 20 minutes now, but that's to be expected when you arrive 30 minutes early. It was 5 before noon when Grace spotted the Sunflower. She was about to greet her when she saw the annoyed look on Nebula's face, then she noticed the fire flower that was trailing behind her. He looked familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

Nebula seemed to be getting pissed at the flower, then he started talking in what Grace could only describe as the most arrogant voice she had ever heard "I'm just saying that maybe you should consider finding someone else, some plant that isn't disgusting and loud and scary and...dumb".

That was all it took to send Nebula over the edge. She whipped around and gave him a glare that would've sent a gargantuar running, and slapped him hard across the face. "For the last time William, I will NOT look for a new partner just because you have a problem with a chomper who is smarter than you, stronger than you, and far less annoying than you. I don't know if it's because you have this sick obsession with controlling everybody or if it's because you're a blatant racist, but if you don't leave me alone I will rip off your leaves and SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT! GOT IT?" Williams only response was to shrug his shoulders and walk away, but not before giving Nebula a wink.

Grace lurched forward and caught Nebula before she could follow through on her threat. The Two stood there for a minute before Grace determined it was safe to release Nebula. After another minute of standing there, Grace finally broke the silence "Sooo, wanna tell me what that was all about?"

Nebula let out a long sigh before responding "That idiot has been following me ever since I left my house this morning. He's trying to convince me to send in a request for a new partner, and despite the fact I told him it hasn't been nearly long enough to make that decision he wouldn't leave me alone. At some point I was able to lose him, but he somehow found me and went right back to irritating the hell out of me. I'm sorry you had to see the ugly side of me, I usually can control my anger."

Grace gave Nebula a proud smile "More like the badass side of you, I didn't know you had the guts to say something like that to any plant."

The two began walking towards the mall when Nebula let out a nervous laugh "Yeah looking back on it maybe I shouldn't of threatened the Army general's son, but there's nothing I can do about it now."

Grace let out a laugh as the two walked inside the large shopping complex. The mall looked beautiful on the inside, each of its three stories decorated with a different type of plant. The first floor featured coniferous trees scattered about forming the design of a leaf, the plant army's symbol. The second floor was a bit bright with its shrubs and tulips, though nothing could beat the third floor. Outside of each store and lining all of the walkways were flowers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. At the center of the mall sat a large oak tree that went through each floor and the ceiling of the store, most plants believed it stretched for another five stories.

"Come on, I know this great place where we can get the best sunglasses." Grace told Nebula, and the two started off towards the second floor.

Grace noticed Nebula was giving her a strange look and was about to say something when she piped up "I think this is the first time I've seen you without Winston. Are you two..."

At first all Nebula got was a confused look, then Grace realized what she was asking and she couldn't help but laugh at how silly the question was. After she was done laughing she realized Nebula was still waiting for an actual answer. Grace cleared her throat and put on a more serious face "No, we are not in any way romantically involved. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember, and that's all we are."

Nebula gave her a quizzical look "Wouldn't you two being best friends lead to something romantic?"

Grace laughed again but this time there was a slight hint of irritation in her voice "No, it means we are supportive of each other and we can help each other in their ACTUAL relationship."

Nebula gave her a slight nod before asking "So you two have dated other plants then?"

"Well um...No, but that has nothing to do with our relationship with each other." Grace answered, now sounding unsure of herself.

Nebula rolled her eyes at her "Rightttt, you to are definitely not secretly harboring feelings towards each other. And it's not like you don't go on dates with other plants because you always hold onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, the other one will confess their true feeling."

Grace decided it was time to end this conversation "God, you sunflowers are always trying to make love happen even when there is nothing going on between two plants." Grace spotted the sunglasses vendor and quickened her pace to avoid Nebula saying anything else. "Hey Sam, you got any nice shades for my friend here." Grace gestured to Nebula and received an amused look from the owner.

Nebula walked up next to Grace and gave the old cactus a wave before asking "So what if I asked out Winston, you think he'd say yes to a pretty little sunflower like me?" Nebula proceed to bat her eyes at Grace while Sam picked out a pair of masquerade glasses for her. Grace turned to her and gave her a playful glare before handing Sam the 1,000 coins.

"Tell you what Nebula, I'll confess my love to Winston when you do the same to William." Grace smiled when she saw Nebula start fake vomiting. Grace knew she could push things a little further "You know, maybe we could go on a double date with you two sometime."

Nebula stopped her before she could go any further "Alright I'll go on a double date with you and Winston with any other plant except William. Deal?"

"Deal, but you realize Winston and I won't treat it as a date. Also I'm gonna keep this deal in my back pocket for a bit." Grace gave Nebula a devious grin. It had been so long since Grace had talked with someone who didn't take any of her shit.

"Where is Winston?"

Winston was passed out with his head lying on the table when Static found him. Nebula had asked him last night if he would go and hang out with Winston while she was shopping with Grace, but Static hadn't expected to get here and find his leader on top of a pile of notes. "Glad to know that Grace and Winston keep the door unlocked." Static grumbled to himself. He began to shake Winston to try and wake him up but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. Static stood there for a bit before strolling into the kitchen and returning with a bowl full of water. He made sure the area was clear of any documents before dousing Winston with cold water.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Winston yelled while jumping so far in the air he hit his head on the ceiling. When Winston recovered he looked to the side of his room to see Static sitting there with an amused expression on his face. "Ummm, did you see all that?"

"What the loud yell or the smashing your head into the ceiling?" Static answered with a grin. "What were you doing all night?"

"Well if you must know I've been looking at maps of the areas surrounding the Garden Center." Winston answered while he searched his room for his research. He pulled out a long, rolled up map from under his bed and handed it to Static. "I've marked every possible entrance with a red circle and red circles with a blue dot means an entrance where zombies were seen or have been seen traveling." Winston explained.

Static gave Winston an understanding look "So you're trying to determine where the zombies came from."

"And how they were able to break the defenses of the plant army." Winston looked up at Static "Any ideas?"

Static thought for a few minutes before turning to Winston "I have an idea, but in order to confirm it we would need to go back to the Garden Center."

"Damn." Winston mumbled. It would be nearly impossible to get permission to go back now that the army had reset their defenses. He walked into the other room and poured himself a cup of coffee before telling Static "Tell me what your idea is, then we can decide what to do."

Winston took a seat at the counter while Static came into the room with two maps. He took the one Winston had been working on and spread it out on the counter, then he placed the new map on top of it. "Near the beginning of the war, when the zombies first began to push us back, we defended an area called Jewel Junction. We didn't hold it for long, but a strategy that was used to conserve our armies was to dig a tunnel leading back towards the Garden Center. We had the tunnels hidden, then during our escape we had them blown up to prevent the zombies from using them even if they found them. There's a possibility that they discovered the tunnels, but they should only be able to move a few zombies at a time. Transporting an army would take too long, not to mention there's no place to store them."

Winston examined the map further to see if there was any place they could hide an army, but he couldn't find anywhere near big enough to do so. "Hey Static, what's Nebula's major?"

Static rubbed his chin "I believe it's biology."

"And her minors?" Winston pressed.

"Uhh Geology, Physics, and Music."

"Alright give her a call and tell her to get over here as soon as possible, and tell Grace to meet me at the SPA 've got to let the director know about this, maybe she could send a team to investigate." It occurred to him that there was a good chance he would look crazy if they didn't find anything, but they couldn't risk the zombies having an underground tunnel system.

Static walked over to the phone and began to dial her number "Man I can't wait to look crazy on our second day of work. Hey Nebula, it's Static. Winston wants you to come over asap. Yes now, he needs you to take a look at something. No Nebula it's definitely not important, that's why I told you to come over asap. Of course I'm being sarcastic, get over here. And tell Grace to meet Winston at headquarters. Yes SPA headquarters, what other headquarters is there. Alright I'll see you in a bit, bye." Static turned to Winston "You know for a plant who is extremely intelligent, she lacks common sense."

Nebula hung up her phone and turned to Grace "You know for a plant who is extremely intelligent, he sure is sarcastic."

Grace shook her head "So what did he want?"

Nebula shrugged "He wants me to come over and look at something, that's all he said. You know I understand being urgent but he could've said something that let me know what this was about."

"Well we better get over there quickly then." Grace led Nebula out of the mall before Nebula stopped her.

"Wait, Winston wants to meet you at headquarters." Grace gave her a hesitant look. Nebula raised her arms in the air "I don't know, Static spent more time sassing me than he did explaining the situation."

Grace just sighed in response and headed off in the other direction. "I'll give you a call when I figure out what's going on, and finish whatever it is Static needs help with quickly." Grace called out to Nebula. She gave Grace a nod in response and started a light jog towards Winston's apartment. Grace began to wonder what it was that had her heading to meet Winston. He had gone to bed early last night to investigate something, but Grace hadn't thought it was anything to serious. "Maybe Static saw something he didn't?" Grace thought. Static was a smart plant, but Winston was no slouch himself. If Static had discovered some secret, it's no wonder Winston would have all of us running around. But what is it?

Grace reached headquarters a few minutes later. They had cleverly hidden the entrance inside a scarf shop. Grace smiled at the fact that she couldn't even remember the last time she saw a plant wearing a scarf. "Hello sir, do you have any scarves that are pink with polka dots?" She asked the shop owner.

The chomper smiled at her "I'm sorry, I don't think so. Would light red work?"

"Yes that would work. I need it for a party this weekend." He gave her an understanding look and tapped a button under the desk.

"Follow me to the back, I think I have just what you're looking for." She followed him through a curtain that revealed a staircase that led to headquarters. Grace walked down the stairs to find Winston already waiting for her, his head stuck in a map. She peeked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and was shocked to find it was a map of Jewel Junction.

Grace grabbed the map from him "Why are you looking at this? We haven't had control of this area in decades."

Winston took the map back from her and tucked it under his arm "I'll explain it to you when I explain it to the director, for now just know that we might have discovered how zombies can transport their armies."

They walked in silence for a bit before Grace spoke up "So was it Static who discovered this, or was it a team effort?"

Winston stopped walking and looked up "What makes you think I needed Static, why couldn't it be just me who discovered this?"

"You wouldn't have taken that long to figure it out." Grace casually replied as she strolled by.

Upon entry of the operations room, Grace and Winston were greeted by Dave "What are you two doing here? We said to wait for our call."

Winston ignored the question and shoved the map into Dave's arms "I need an investigative team to search for a series of tunnels at the Garden Center. We have reason to believe the zombies are traveling using these tunnels."

"Dave, did I just hear that right?" The Director called out from her chair in the center of the room. "Come over here and give that map to me." She quickly looked over the details of the map and looked over to her left "Someone tell James to get a small scouting group together, have them ready within the hour. I need everyone ready to follow their report and let me know of every developing detail."

"I'd like to go with them, if you don't mind. I want to see for myself if I'm right." Winston spoke up.

"Alright, that means you can be there if we find that there are no secret tunnels. I'm taking a chance with your theory here Winston, don't screw it up." She turned to Grace "Am I to assume you will be joining him?"

Grace nodded "I'll stand guard at the entrance, just incase anything goes wrong."

The door opened to reveal James and two other plants. "I've got my team ready, what's our mission?" James noticed Grace and Winston standing next to the Director "What are you two doing here?"

"These two will be joining you on your mission. You will head out to the Garden Center and you will not be seen by the military. Winston will explain to you what you're looking for on the way there." She handed him the map , patted him on the head, and walked back towards her seat.

"Alright you two, follow me." James commanded.

Winston quietly observed the two plants James had brought along. From what he could tell, they were just an ordinary chomper and peashooter. They hadn't said anything the whole ride and their eyes had stayed fixated on the floor, even while James gave them their instructions. "I guess James isn't the only all business plant." Winston thought to himself.

"5 minutes until drop off." James announced from the front of the ship. "Everyone remember the plan? Good." He hadn't even waited to see if anyone had forgotten their part, but Grace and Winston got the feeling that their answer didn't matter.

Grace was feeling pretty relaxed with the whole situation. Granted she was always relaxed, but most plants tended to get serious before a battle or mission. "Nothing is more exciting than lookout." She grumbled to herself.

"I'm glad you feel that way sunshine." James called out to her as he made his way to the door. James smirked to himself when he looked back to see Grace's mouth hanging open. A red light located above the door flashed on and the door swung open. James turned back to face the group "Alright let's go!"

One by one they exited the ship and landed right outside the Garden Center. James silently signaled for them to stay low and follow him as they made their way past the military and towards the north side of the center. After about a minute of weaving in and out of bushes and alleys, the team arrived at the loading docks. James held his pod up as a signal for everyone to stop, then he pointed at the chomper they had brought along and pointed towards the ground. In an instant the plant dove underground and began moving around in a snake like pattern. When he surfaced walked straight up to James and began whispering in his ear. James nodded slowly and waved everyone else over. "Alright, spike found the tunnel. It's right below this platform." James gestured to the area of raised land right behind him. "Spike will dig us a hole straight down, and the three of us will follow when he gives the all clear. Grace, stay here and stay hidden by one of the dumpsters. If we aren't back in an hour, leave us."

Grace just nodded her head as the others began to make the journey downwards. Spike jumped into the air and dove straight into the ground, leaving the rest to wait in silence. A few seconds passed by before they heard a bird caw and James led them down the tunnel. Just before Winston left he turned to Grace and gave her a quick, reassuring smile before entering the small hole. Grace took her spot behind a dumpster and began counting the seconds that passed by. "Not like it matters." She thought to herself. "Winston will be back, and if he's not I'll go get him myself."

Static had all the maps and charts he thought Nebula might need laid out on the dining room table, waiting for her arrival. He had gathered maps of the Garden Center's geography, city layout, and even precipitation maps. He didn't know what exact maps she might want, so he just grabbed what he thought she might need. Three distinct knocks came from the door and Static got up to go let Nebula in. "Who is it?" He questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"It's me Static." An annoyed response came from behind the door.

"I don't know any plant named me?" Static laughed to himself.

"Probably cause you don't have any friends." Static immediately stopped laughing and opened the door to see a smirking sunflower standing there. "Come on, stop wasting time and tell me what's up."

Static gestured for her to follow him to his setups of maps and pointed to the map of Jewel Junction "You know about the history of jewel junction right?" Nebula raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. "Well, is it possible that the zombies found the tunnel we used and have managed to repurpose it? Like dug through all the rubble and are now moving their own troops underground."

Nebula thought for a moment before shaking her head "No, it isn't." Static was about to say something but stopped himself and let her finish her explanation. "When we destroyed the tunnel, we didn't completely obliterate them. We essentially sealed off the entrance and made it nearly impossible for them to find. If they did find it, which is possible, there is still one major problem. The tunnel was not that big. It took us a long time to move our army through, the only reason we could do so is because the zombies couldn't find the entrance. They wouldn't be able to move an army efficentaly enough to attack the garden center. Once they got to the exit, they wouldn't have anywhere to go. The military would just take them out one by one, and that'd be it. So no, I don't think that's what they're doing."

Static took in all the information and sighed "Well, I guess I was wrong. I just sent Winston on a mission for nothing."

Nebula patted Static on the back in an attempt to comfort him. "It was a good theory. I mean, not many even remember the tunnel. Fewer remember how it was built or what happened to it." Nebula looked down at the geological map of Jewel Junction and grabbed it. "Where is this map from?"

Static looked over her shoulder "Winston said the agency took photos of all these places once a month. Incase the zombies were building some secret facility or something like that."

"Get me an old map of Jewel Junction, now." Nebula demanded.

The seriousness in her voice made Static decide to question her after he retrieved the map. Walking over to the counter he began shuffling through the stacks Winston had made "How old do you want?" He called out to her.

"Just give me one that's from a few years ago." She replied as she began circling spots on the newer map.

Static placed the map next to her and watched her as she began comparing the two same spots on the maps. "Mind telling me what you see?" Static prodded.

Nebula pointed to the two circles she had made on the maps "Look here, see how this land looks different? That's because the ground is now different. It's a giant hole in the ground."

Static was trying to follow her logic "So, they're mining jewels? Why would they care about jewels?"

Nebula shook her head at him "They aren't mining jewels. They're mining something else. Jewel Junction also contained huge deposits of coal and Iron, but I don't know why they would need either of that. Their weapons aren't built using iron, and coal isn't something they would need for anything I can think of." Nebula was starting to get frustrated. None of this made sense to her.

Static broke her from her thoughts "Hey Nebula, how long would it take for them to widen the tunnels?"

Nebula thought for a second before responding "Depends on how much they widen it. Why do you ask?" Nebula looked up at Static to see him holding a book titled History's Greatest Inventions.

Static turned the book around so she could see the page he was on "How long before they could fit one of these in there?"

Nebula's heart sank as she realized what the iron and coal was being used for. "We have to go warn them. Now."

Winston was shocked when he first entered the tunnel. He was expecting something much smaller, not a giant tunnel that looked like even a Gargantuar couldn't touch the top. "Why is this thing so big? I thought this place was just used for transporting plant troops, why make it so big?"

The other peashooter James had brought along spoke up "Maybe it was already this big? Or if the zombies are using this, they needed to make it big enough for Gargantuars?"

James didn't look convinced by that idea "Maybe..."

"Boss, check this out." The three of them looked over to see Spike pointing to something on the ground. "It looks like bars of iron or something."

James examined the bars and looked further down the tunnel. "I don't like this. Not even 5 minutes down here and I already have more questions that need answering."

"Do you want to go back sir?" The peashooter looked slightly worried now.

"No photo. We need to try and figure out what's going on here." He pondered what to do for a second before continuing "Winston, you wanna see what's further down this tunnel?"

Winston walked up next to him and gave him a slight grin "I was hoping you'd ask me that."

James nodded at him and turned to the others "You two will stay here and try and see if you can find anymore clues. Make sure you leave before the hour is up, even if we aren't back." Spike and Photo saluted him and began searching the area around the iron bars. James looked back at Winston "Alright, let's see what the hell is going on here."

"Static come on, we don't have much time!" Nebula yelled behind her as she ran down the street. Plants were looking at her as she pasted like she had lost her mind, and they were half right. Nebula's thoughts were going crazy with possible scenarios for what might happen if they didn't warn them in time. Every scenario ended with them dying or worse.

Static popped out of the ground next to her, breathing harder than he ever had in his life "Chomper's are natural born sprinters. Long distance isn't our forte." He wheezed. Luckily they had just arrived at the scarf shop.

"Pink with polka dots, yes that will work, I need it for a party this weekend." Nebula nearly screamed in between gasp for air. The shopkeeper gave her a confused look before he just slowly nodded at her and pulled a lever. Static and Nebula rushed to the changing room and bolted down the stairs.

The director was sitting in her chair with a glass of sugar water waiting for a status report from James. She was about to take another sip when she heard yelling from outside the room. After listening closely, she made out two distinct voices "Let us in now, we have urgent news"

"I'm sorry mam, we can't just let some plant we hardly know go barging through headquarters see the director at any time. We might lose our jobs."

"My teammates might lose their LIVES!"

"We don't have time for this." A third voice entered the conversation.

"Static what are you do-AH!" And then it was silent. The Director waited a few more seconds before she reached for her glass. She didn't get a chance to drink it because a chomper holding a sunflower emerged from the ground right in front of her. Before she could even question what had just happened the sunflower began yelling at her "You need to get them out of that tunnel now!"

"Director are you ok?" Dave had a concerned look on his face as every plant in the room had now turned to see what was happening. "You two, back away now before I have you two executed."

The Director held up a hand "Easy Dave, let them explain themselves first." She looked back at Nebula "And why should I do that?"

Nebula slammed a book in front of her "Page 104 is why. We don't know how much time they have, but they don't stand a chance as long as they're down there."

She raised an eyebrow at her before opening the book to page 104. She quickly put the book down and turned to Dave "Get Grace on the phone and tell her to get them out. I need to hear what James found down there before I do anything else." Dave ran over to the phone and began punching in numbers while the other plants in the room began pulling up cameras stationed around the Garden Center. "I hope you're wrong about this." She said, now turning her attention back to Nebula.

"So do I." Nebula whispered.

Grace sat outside the entrance tunnel hidden behind a dumpster waiting for the others to get back. It felt like hours since they left, but in reality it had only been a little less than an hour.

"Next mission, Winston can wait outside while I get to explore the mysterious tunnel." She mumbled to herself. Her comlink suddenly started vibrating and she quickly answered it "This is Grace standing by."

"Grace, this is Dave. We need you to get the others out of there right away." Dave's voice was calm but stern.

"Yes sir, pulling them out now." Grace walked over to the tunnel and called down "You two, get Winston and James. We're being pulled out ASAP."

"What for?" One of them called back.

"Don't know don't care, just get them out." She replied.

Down below Photo began climbing the rope while Spike ran down the tunnel. "Yo James, we gotta go. Director's orders."

James turned around to face him "But we're not done." He looked further down the tunnel then back to Spike "Why so soon?"

Spike shrugged "Don't know, but if we were told to leave then we should."

"Damnit!" James hissed. "Isn't there anyway we can have a little more time?"

"Do you two hear that?" Winston asked. Both James and Spike stopped talking and turned towards him. After a few seconds James realized there was a faint hissing sound coming from the metal. Suddenly a light flashed into their eyes as the tunnel began to shake.

"Run!" James shouted and the three took off in the opposite direction. The ground began shaking more and more as the light got closer to them.

"What the hell is it?!" Spike yelled just loud enough for them to hear. They made it back to the rope and began climbing before Winston turned to look and confirmed his fears.

"It's a train!" Winston yelled upwards so that Grace could hear.

Grace's eyes grew wide as she began to pull the rope to bring them up faster. Photo ran up next to her and started pulling with all of his might. Grace looked back down the hole and saw Winston only a few more feet from the top when the train flew by. Nobody had any time to react as the rope caught onto the train and pulled James and Winston down. The last thing Winston saw was Grace looking at him with fear in her eyes before everything went black.

 **It's been a long time since I've updated this story. The last year I have been busy trying to graduate while moving three separate times and finding out where I'm going to college. The biggest reason I haven't updated in so long is because I didn't realize how seriously people took writing and reading these stories. When I first started this, it was a way to help with my depression. It gave me a distraction while letting my creative side let loose. But after some very helpful and eye opening reviews, I realized I would have to put a lot of time into thinking about where I want this story to go and how I wanted to get it there. I decided to wait until I had graduated and had given this story more thought, and I think I finally have a good idea of where I want it to go. The grammar won't be perfect cause I'm not the best at literature and the plot might be confusing or unamusing for some people but that's ok, I'm just doing this for fun. If you enjoy it then great, if not then I hope you can find something that interest and entertains you. My goal is to release a chapter every 1-2 weeks but that is not a promise. I still have a social life and I am pretty forgetful. Any advice on writing or grammer left in the reviews will be read at least three times, so feel free to let me know of any complaints or compliments you have (Especially compliments, I'm needy like that). Also I'm gonna go back at some point and revise chapter 1, cause looking back at it holy shit it is bad.**


	11. Escape and Survive

"Winston!" Grace screamed as she tried to jump down after him.

Photo quickly stopped her and tried to calm her down "They'll be fine! They fell onto whatever that thing was. We need to go report back to the director now!"

Grace slowly stopped struggling and turned away from the hole "You're right, we need to call this in and get a shuttle here. They'll be back, Winston always is." While Grace tried to get in contact with headquarters, Photo pulled a transmitter out and placed it in the middle of the loading docks. "This is agent Grace requesting evac. Command do you copy?"

"We copy agent Grace, a shuttle is already on its way to pick you up. Just sit tight, it'll be a few minutes." Grace took a seat on the stairs while Photo started walking around. Grace tried to calm her nerves by slowly breathing in and out, but as soon as she shut her eyes all she could picture was Winston falling " _Stop it! He'll be fine! He has never let me down, and he's not gonna start now._ " She was pulled from her thoughts by a loud crash.

Photo turned to Grace "What was that?"

Before Grace could answer a shuttle landed in front of them and opened its doors. Grace was surprised when she was nearly tackled by Nebula. "I was so worried about you! The whole ride over all I could think about was whether or not you two would be alright!" Nebula nearly screamed.

Grace raised an eyebrow at her and slowly patted her head "It's ok, but we've got a problem."

Nebula looked up at her "What? Please don't tell me something happened to Winston."

Grace sighed "Unfortunately yes, he fell onto the train."

"So it is a train?" Grace noticed Static standing off to the side. "Well on the bright side we were right."

Grace waved Static over and the three formed a circle "Congrats, now listen up. Winston fell on top of that train, meaning he isn't dead yet. But if we don't do something, odds are he's not gonna come back to us. So I'm gonna need you two to follow me down that scary dark hole and follow the tracks until we find him. Got it?"

Static and Nebula looked to each other then back to Grace "Got it."

"Hold on just a second." The group turned to see Photo staring at them "You three aren't doing anything except getting on that shuttle and waiting until we have a plan. Going down there is suicide."

Grace shot him a glare "And who's gonna stop us?"

He laughed at her as he climbed into the shuttle "Not me, but this shuttle is leaving in the next 30 seconds. If you're not on it then you're getting left behind. So choose wisely."

Static spoke up "Ok maybe we should wait a few days before operation rescue Winston."

"Static!" Nebula shouted as she shoved him.

"What? We don't know what's down there, or how we're gonna get back. If we leave now and go make a plan, we could come back with more plants and supplies." He explained.

Nebula was about to yell at him but stopped and though for a second "...Ok that's fair." Static smiled until Nebula started shouting "But we can't just leave Winston!"

"We've known him for a few days, is he really that important?" Static asked. Nebula shoved him again. "Kidding! But seriously, we can't do anything for him right now. What do you think Grace? Grace?"

Grace had stopped paying attention to them and was now checking out the roofs. "Something's not right." She mumbled. It was like there was something moving but everytime she turned around there was nothing. She could hear the occasional footstep or a slight click, but she just couldn't pinpoint what it was or where it was coming from. " _It's almost as if there's something…_ "

Static looked up and shrugged "Maybe a storm is coming, even more reason for us to come back later. Let's go" He turned around and headed towards the shuttle when Grace heard a charging sound.

"STATIC! GET DOWN NOW!" Static looked back at her confused when a rocket flew into the side of the ship. The explosion sent Static flying into Nebula while Grace tried radioing in for help. "This is agent Grace, our shuttle has just been destroyed. We need evac NOW!"

"We've got company!" Nebula called out as she began reviving Static. Grace watched in horror as zombies began popping up all around them. Before she could react something hit her in the back of the head.

Grace turned to see soldier zombies lining the roofs of the buildings as they began pelting her with bullets. "We've gotta move! Get to the hallway that runs directly beneath the main center." Grace called out.

Nebula nodded, picked Static up, and began heading in that direction. Grace fired a few rounds at the soldiers to make them take cover before running away. " _If we don't get help soon, we're as good as dead._ "

Winston woke up with a slight headache and no clue as to where he was. After a minute of lying there he determined he was still in the tunnel, only now he was off to the side behind some rocks. There was a little light coming from somewhere, but he couldn't determine where.

Winston was about to further investigate when James leaped over the rocks and landed in front of him. "Oh good, you're awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake. What happened?" Winston asked. He sat up and began looking at the cave in greater detail. He could see beams lined up along the walls for support and a few boxes off to the side, but couldn't see much else.

"We fell, you were passed out, and as soon as we stopped moving I dragged you off and moved us behind these rocks." James looked Winston up and down "You're heavier than you look."

Winston shook his head at James "Aside from my weight, did you find anything else out?"

"Yeah, the zombies crawled out of that thing a little bit after we stopped." James jerked his pod towards the metal beast "They're using smaller tunnels to crawls upwards towards the surface." James paused and looked back towards the light "Their own army transportation service."

There was a loud whistle, then the train began moving in the opposite direction until it was out of sight. James sighed in relief "Okay, let's go before anymore troops return."

Winston moved to follow him but stopped himself and looked around "Wait, what about Spike?"

James stopped and silently removed a leaf that was tucked next to his pod "That thing snagged the bottom of the rope...Spike got caught underneath. This is all of him I could find."

Winston didn't know what to say " _He got run over… couldn't even find a body."_ He looked at James and saw a hint of sadness in his eyes before he shut them tight and turned around. He gestured for him to follow, and the two quietly made their way across the tracks.

The two found a tunnel further away from the rest and made their way up. Winston could feel the dirt begin to cover him and was somewhat thankful for the grimy feel it gave. When they got to the top they found that it let out into a small building. James looked through a window and saw wave after wave of zombies heading towards the East side of the Garden Center. "We're screwed."

"We might be, but I told Grace about what we saw. As soon as she gets onto a shuttle, every plant will know what's going on here." Winston informed him.

James pointed out the window "You mean a shuttle like that?"

Winston followed James' pod and saw a flaming shuttle lying against a building. "No… it can't be."

Winston started to feel his world shake when James pod landed on his shoulder "Relax, she wasn't on it. Look, the zombie soldier's bullet trail leads down that alley. That means Photo and Grace made it out and ran that way."

Winston let out a sigh of relief and looked at James "Then this is where we part ways."

"Oh, and why is that?" James asked.

"Because one of us needs to make it to the army located on the other side and tell them what's going on." Winston explained. "And Grace and I work very well together."

James gave him a look of horror and shock that made Winston think he was going to stop him. But instead he just laughed at Winston "You're crazy, but I respect that. Good luck, and make sure you keep Photo out of trouble." The two shook pods before James pushed open the door and they took off in seperate directions.

Winston took one last look at James before following the trail of bullet marks, weaving in and out of zombies, and praying Grace had made it to safety.

Bullets went flying by Grace's while she sat hunched into a corner. Footsoldier zombies had them trapped in the corridor that ran underneath the main gardening center, and the group had been forced to push themselves into the doorways in order to escape the onslaught.

"These zombies are way too coordinated. They keep switching off between who's firing so that we can't attack when they reload." Static called out from the other side. He was squished in front of Nebula, blocking any unlucky bullets that managed to hit them while Nebula continued to heal him.

Nebula tried to fire a few shots back at them, but she couldn't get a clear shot. "This is worthless. We can't get to the army if they keep us pinned down here! They'll keep us here until they've destroyed the army, then there will be nowhere to go."

Grace tried to think of anything that might work, but nothing was coming to her. "Well at this point I'm open to any ideas." Static and Nebula both looked at her with concerned faces, and she could already tell that they couldn't think of anything either.

Static looked to Nebula, then back to Grace before speaking up "Well I have one idea, but you're not gonna like it." Grace raised an eyebrow but gestured for him to go on. "Well if I burrow, I can get right up to them and get at least one. After that they'll be too distracted by a chomper in their face and you two can…"

"NO!" Grace yelled at him while Nebula began punching him, calling him an idiot for even thinking that. "We either all live or all die, but I'm not leaving either of you."

Static opened his mouth to reply but a commotion coming from the end of the hall stopped him. The bullets momentarily stopped coming from one direction and Static took the opportunity to dive into the ground.

"Cover him!" Grace called out to Nebula and the two began firing in the direction of the bullets. The two zombies were caught by surprise and tried to take cover, only to realize Static was right underneath them. He swallowed one of them while the other panicked and turned to fire at him. Grace had just enough time to launch a shot right into the soldiers head, freezing him and allowing Static to finish him off.

Static quickly ran back to the two as more gunfire rained down to where he was standing. "Ok, turns out there are a lot more zombies waiting outside. I'm pretty sure they're on the roofs, just firing at anything that moves."

Nebula sighed "That means all we've done is bought ourselves some time and space, but there's still no getting out of this situation." The three held similar expressions of despair, now that it was clear how hopeless the situation was.

"Wow, look at the downers y'all have become." The group spun around to see Winston standing over two corpses. "I drop down on these two zombies, cause a distraction, and beat them just so I can save you guys and what do I find? A bunch of plants moping around." While Winston tried to sound serious, he couldn't help but smile at the three standing in front of him.

Winston quickly made his way over to the group where he received hugs from all of them before they formed a small huddle in the hallway. "Alright Winston, what's the plan?" Nebula asked, a new found energy in her voice.

Winston considered their options before answering "The only thing we can do, fight our way through a horde of zombies until we get to a safe zone." The group stared at him with blank expressions on their face, until they all began laughing at their leader. "Ok, not quite the reaction I was expecting."

Grace straightened herself out before answering "Sorry Winston, its just that you come back and we're expecting some great plan. Instead all we get is 'Guys we're running straight at the enemy', so you can imagine how we feel right now."

Winston started to argue but noticed Static and Nebula shaking their heads in agreement. "Ok fine, it isn't my greatest plan ever. But it's all I've got, and if we just sit here they'll eventually overwhelm us and have us trapped again."

Static checked both sides of the passage, then replied "Well they might not even know we're here. It could end up being a better idea if—"

Before Static could finish his sentence three zombie soldiers appeared at one of the doorways and began unloading onto them. The group took off in the other direction and ran out of the passage way. What they found outside was horrifying. Wave upon wave of browncoats, bucketheads, and newspaper zombies flooded the streets. The roofs and windows were lined with foot soldiers who were currently unloading in the direction of the plant army. Gargantuars were slowly wading through the ocean of zombies, attempting to get close enough to start smashing the little plant defenses that were set up.

Winston turned around and saw the three foot soldiers were now leading a charge down the corridor. " _Ok think, where could we go to get to safety? The roofs aren't an option, and all the buildings contain foot soldiers. We can't fight through this horde, so there's no getting to the military. That leaves only one option."_ Winston looked back towards the others "Guys, this way! We gotta make it up to the top of the center."

They nodded at him in understanding and began making their way towards the closest staircase. Upon reaching it, two zombies landed in front of them and blocked their path. "Excuse Me!" Static yelled as he began blasting electricity from his mouth onto the surprised foes. The lightning was just enough to cause them to retreat and clear a path for them.

Once they got to the staircase Grace started monitoring the roofs while Winston tried to determine the best spot to make a final defense. Nebula tapped Winston on the shoulder "We should set up near the center and towards the street, that way we have some cover behind the sign."

He thought for a second before shaking his head "Good call. Grace, Static! We're grouping up behind the sign." The two quickly made there way to the location while Winston continued to yell orders "Grace keep the soldiers from firing at us. Don't focus taking down one, just worry about keeping them from getting a clear shot. Static do not let them get near us. Do everything in your power to stop them. Nebula, keep rotating between us and healing us. Prioritize whoever is the weakest and help anyone who will need it." Winston looked back and forth between the small squad he had commanded for only a few days. "I'll start firing into the army and doing as much damage as I can. Just stall for as long as you can."

Static looked out into the distance and smiled "Even though it's only been a few days since I first met you guys, I've enjoyed every second of it."

Nebula returned his smile "Same, and I look forward to spending even more time with everyone of you when we get out of this."

"Well then, let's stop talking and start kicking some ass. I won't let these idiots keep me from beating yall in some poker." Grace called to them. She was pointed towards the top of a building and was sporting a winning grin.

Winston looked back and forth between the three while smiling, then he took aim at the army below him. "Alright you undead sons of bitches, I hope you're ready to experience death again!"

A mysterious figure was crouched on a rooftop, staring through his scope at a group of 4 plants. "How the hell did they get that far into the center without dying?" he mumbled. Standing up he pulled out a radio from his backpack and turned it to frequency 7 "Command please be advised that there are 4 plants currently free firing into the army."

There was a pause, then a voice came through "Roger that Cam, please stand by for new orders."

He put the radio down next to him and looked through his scope again. From where he was standing he could make out an ice cactus, a sunflower, and an electric chomper. The last plant he spotted threw him for a loop. He was a different tint of green and he appeared to be radiating something. He also had on some kind of mask that looked like it was used to breath. " _Why would he need a mask for that? I've never seen a plant like that._ "

The radio pulled him from his thoughts "Cam, please be advised that you've been given new orders from the boss."

Cam was surprised to hear that the boss himself had given specific instructions, he usually didn't bother to even learn who was on what mission. "What is it command?"

A few tense seconds passed before the instructions came, and he couldn't be happier with what they were "Try out the new stink cloud, take notes on how it affects them, and leave no survivors. Do you copy?"

A sinister smile slowly made its way across his face as he picked up his gun and loaded the rest of his equipment "I copy command, believe me I copy."


End file.
